Copenhagen Fire Brigade

Internet for every contingency

One second of inattentiveness is enough to risk a major fire. The fire brigade rush to the place of the incident, and soon, questions arise: Are enough fire fighters present? Are we equipped with the right tools? Which chemicals need to be neutralized? These are questions for experts which are best kept in the command center to be available for more than one emergency team. However, only talking about the scene and describing the difficulties is fairly unfeasible, so emergency services need a stable and reliable mobile Internet connection that is suitable for video streaming regardless of location as well as of eventual bystanders calling or texting friends and family. Incendium, a Danish live streaming company, meets these demands by using Viprinet technology.

Overview of benefits

Reliable Internet by bonding several mobile connections of different providers

Maximum bandwidth and low latencies regardless of time or place

Live streams from several cameras

Multisite operational management and data sharing

The task

Emergency scenarios like fires or accidents can often be described as only rudimentarily using language and text information – important basic information for situation assessment and thus for appropriate operation control are missing. By using a Viprinet Multichannel VPN Router 500 that is able to bond four mobile broadband connections into one virtual leased line with the highest possible bandwidth and availability in combination with a camera and monitoring system from Incendium, the situation summary transmitted from the site of operation can be enhanced by a live video signal. This signal can be distributed to any number of emergency staff with any kind of terminal (PCs, smart phones, tablets). At the same time, important information like location maps showing dangerous supply lines can be made available directly on these PCs or tablets in return.

Implementation

In the command vehicles of the Copenhagen Fire Brigade, a Viprinet Multichannel VPN Router 500 was installed and connected via a MultiAMP Combiner to one external antenna that was mounted on the vehicle’s roof. As soon as the router is connected to the vehicle’s on-board power supply, it automatically establishes an Internet connection via four 3G/UMTS/HSPA+ modems to the necessary remote station, and then provides this connection via the integrated Wi-Fi access point within the emergency vehicle. This way, all connected terminals can communicate live with the command center via video and data streaming.

Result

Improving situation assessment and, in consequence, improving the basis for decision-making in order to handle mission scenarios in the best way ensures best usage of resources for mitigating critical mission scenarios as fast as possible – managed by the control center. The possible real-time consultation of specialists prevents misjudgments. Maximum flexibility by providing Wi-Fi on site, and flexible traffic distribution over the Internet makes it possible to send spread-out crisis committees viable instantly without any lead time. In the end, this means: With less specialized resources, more tasks can be accomplished. At the same time, errors can be prevented more easily. The co-operation of Sharecon, a longtime Viprinet partner, and Internet streaming specialist Incendium has enabled saving even more lives and further minimizing consequential damages.

Partners involved

Customer Opinion

As an expert for incident management, I was convinced that the relation between tactics and communication during an incident should be about 70:30. Due to the project, I now think the reverse – 30% tactics, 70% communication – would bring the best results.